


The Tale of Underlord Abraxas

by SureenInk



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:27:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28191681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SureenInk/pseuds/SureenInk
Summary: On the world of Versumi, a strange manner of being exists in a place known as the Underworld. They are the Underlords - the masters of darkness and evil, sometimes even known as evil incarnate itself. But what is the truth behind these beings who command entire armies of monsters? This is the tale of Underlord Abraxas and his denizen of monsters.Commission for a good friend. You can commission me as well, just leave a comment below.
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

Underlords - they are the scourge of the underworld. Simply speaking the word brings fear and terror into the weak hearted. They are the very embodiment of evil incarnate. They force their servants into arduous labor with little sleep or work. They force for their smarter minions to spend every waking moment researching new magic and powers for them. Any who fail to do as they are commanded are tortured, killed, and even sometimes brought back as mindless undead.

This is why the Knights of Light were formed. Their purpose is to guard the few entrances that underlords can move through to reach the overworld. None know how these gates of evil were created, nor does it seem that any know how to create more. For surely, if the underlords knew how to create them, the overworld would be overrun by them in a matter of days.

Luckily, underlords seem more concerned about fighting between one another than trying to discover ways to breach into the overworld. Still, someone must stand vigilant. Someone must stand strong. Someone must guard the gates of evil lest the underlords breach the overworld and begin their reign of terror.

Well, that's what I was told anyway.

My name is Abraxas, or rather, that's the name I was given when I woke up in this place. What exactly is "this place"? It's the underworld, or so I've been told. I don't mean it's the Plane of Death, that is also known as the Underworld by many, but this is more just a place that exists deep underground.

If it's just underground, why don't the underlords just dig their way up to the surface, you ask? Well, it's not that simple. First of all, we're not just underground in the way you might think of it. Rather, we live in a strange sort of semi-planar space underground. That is to say, this place both exists underground and also in its own separate plane of existence.

However, the underworld can't exist in its own dimension or plane. That is because the underworld was created by mortal magic instead of being a planar force. Because of this, it must be attached to something and placed somewhere. So, it was attached to the land beneath the surface.

To put it simply, if you dug down, you'd never encounter the land we live in. You and a monster could be standing side-by-side, and neither of us would be able to interact or even know the other exists there. It is this sort of thing that forces underlords like me to use the gates of evil to leave the underworld and enter what you might call the "Material Plane".

I'm sure this is making little to no sense and likely making your head spin. So, let's just get to telling my story instead of trying to explain the weird magic at play here.

My story begins pretty simply. I was a normal everyday guy, that is... until I died.

Yeah, you heard me right, I died. I was out for my daily walk when I was suddenly struck by something. I don't know what it was, but it was large and fast. I felt every bone in my body break as I was tossed aside and thrown to the ground. Everything went black, and I knew at that moment I was dead.

I suddenly gasped for air as my eyes shot open wide. I quickly sat myself up as I panted. I felt like I hadn't taken a breath in years. As my eyes adjusted, I realized I had no idea where I was. All around me was a large, cavernous room. As far as I could see, I was the only person here, and the only thing in here was a large black cube in the center of the room.

I could see no source of light around me, yet I could see as if the room was as bright as day. As I slowly stood to my feet, I examined my surroundings more, realizing there was no entrances or exits to this strange cavernous room.

"Hello?" I called out. Surely someone must be here, someone had to have brought me here, after all.

Strange, I could swear I remembered being severely injured only a moment ago, yet my body didn't hurt and I was able to move just fine. I looked down and began to examine myself.

There was a tail. It wasn't just any regular tail either, it was a long scaly tail with a stinger. I realized very quickly that it was attached to my body and that I could control it. I also had two, big, scaly wings attached to my back as well that I could control.

"What's going on? Where am I?" I asked, though I knew no one would answer. "Hello?!" I called out louder, but there was still no response.

I took a few steps forward towards the strange black cube. As my hand touched it, I noticed the cube was perfectly smooth. I hadn't had time to examine it much, though, before the cube suddenly lit up and split into several smaller cubes that all began to float in the center of the room.

"Hello, Underlord Abraxas," a voice spoke. It seemed to come from the cubes. "You have finally awoken."

"U-umm... e-excuse me?"

The cubes shifted, forming into what I assumed was an image of myself. "You are Underlord Abraxas, one of many current Underworld Underlords. You have been chosen to aid in the conquering of the Overworld."

I stared in confusion as the cubes separated, forming back into their original shape. "Care to run that by me again?"

"You are Underlord Abraxas. The object you see before you is your Heart. From this Heart, you can control the Underworld and manipulate it as you please."

The cubes began to swirl around me. I saw darkness pour out of the cubes and into my body. Knowledge suddenly flowed through my mind of what this place was, what I was, and what my Heart was. To put it simply, the Heart is an object that gives me my power, but it also sustains my life. If it is destroyed, then I, too, die with it.

However, so long as the Heart exists, I have full control over the Underworld that exists within my own territory. In this manner, I can create anything I want, but only so long as it is within the land I have claimed. To claim more land and territory, I was gifted a group of mindless workers. They were known as imps.

The imps would do anything I commanded, whether it was expanding my territory or building fortifications. However, imps alone wouldn't be enough. Now that I was an underlord, I would be sought after and targeted by other underlords. Apparently underlords saw themselves as gods of sorts and each wanted to be the true master of the whole of the Underworld. To prepare myself for the inevitable sieges, I would need to recruit other monsters to my cause. To do so, I would need to create a portal.

Well, they call it a portal, but it's not quite what you might think. These portals are more like summoning gates in that they are one-way. Using my powers, I could open a gateway that would allow me to bring creatures into my domain, but I couldn't use it to leave or attack other places. In fact, I couldn't even summon anything through the gate unless I had some means of attracting creatures through it.

So, I began to have my imps work at expanding the room I was in. As the imps dug through the walls, I could feel my reach and power steadily growing. Perhaps this was why other underlords wished to claim the whole of the Underworld? Because it meant more power?

I reached out my hand, imagining what sorts of things a creature might need to survive. A place to sleep, perhaps? A place to eat? It was almost as if I had been given some sort of instinct by the Heart. I created a lair for my minions, a structure that magically created fresh meat for them to eat, as well as a sort of training room with wooden dummies to help them grow stronger.

At last, it was time for me to open the portal to attract minions in. I reached my hand out and formed the stone gateway. It crackled and came to life. I grinned, waiting eagerly for what would come through. Would it be some sort of dragon? Maybe zombies or skeletons? Maybe it would be giant spiders!

BLOOP!

A small patch of black sludge crawled out of the gateway.

"Slime?" I questioned as I looked it over. It was a living patch of slime.

How was I going to defend my new land with just slime? I'd played enough games in my life. Slimes were weak enemies, usually the weakest of weak! Other underlords were definitely going to have much more dangerous and much more powerful creatures. How was I going to defend my land and territory with just some slime?

I had to try again. I had to summon something more powerful, something dangerous! I reached out my hand and brought the portal to life once again. I heard a roar from the other side of the portal. Something big must have been coming through! Finally, something that could protect my Heart would finally come through!

The creature that stepped through... was a girl? She looked exactly like a human girl, except for the strange cat ears and tail. She had dark skin and brown hair, but she also looked to be dressed in nothing but a large pajama shirt. It was so big that the neck opening sat loose on her body, exposing one shoulder. It also went down to her knees in length. She yawned as she rubbed her eyes. "Are you my new master?"

I stared. "Umm... yes?"

"That's good." The cat girl smiled sleepily. "Good night." She lied down on the ground, curled up, and fell asleep.

"I'm supposed to protect my Heart... with a slime and a sleepy girl?" I questioned. "Where's the tough monsters, like goblins or ogres? Or maybe even a zombie or a skeleton or something!" I shouted. I sighed. I was suddenly very tired. Well, I had used a lot of magic to create all the rooms and open the portal. Maybe that was it. Maybe I had drained myself.

I reached my hand out, but the portal would not respond again. Yeah, I must have used up all my magic for today. I guess I had no choice, I had to rest. I just had to hope that I wouldn't be attacked by anything while I slept.


	2. Chapter 2

"You really don't know anything about running a dungeon, do you?" Meeko questioned. Meeko was the cat girl that had come through the portal the day before. Right now, we were standing at where I had constructed the portal.

I had tried again to open the portal, but I had had no success. I tried time and again, but after the fifth try, I was getting angry. Why wouldn't the portal open again? I had mana. That was when Meeko had spoke up.

"And you do?" I asked as I looked at her with a twitchy brow.

"You're not the first Underlord I've worked for."

"Then tell me, oh Great Meeko, what am I doing wrong?"

Meeko turned away. "Nope. I won't tell you if you're going to act like that." She folded her arms.

"You're my minion. You're supposed to do whatever I say, aren't you?"

Meeko shrugged. "Not really. Your minions work for you because they get paid and are happy." She turned and pointed a finger at me. "You would do good to remember that. My last Underlord didn't and his minions revolted and tore down his heart."

I winced. There was nothing in the information my Heart had given me that said anything about that. What about the part where Underlords were mistreating their minions and forcing them to overwork? What about torturing, killing, and even reviving their minions as undead?

Meeko scoffed when I asked her those questions. "That might have been true at the beginning, but it's not how it works now. After the death of Underlord Konaku, the minions of the Underlords have realized just how reliant the Underlords are on them, and how easy it is to simply revolt." Meeko turned away again. "Besides, how would you even torture me? It's not like you have anywhere to torture your minions."

"I could make a torture chamber, you know?"

Meeko turned her head and smirked. "Do it then."

I growled. She was getting on my nerves. I turned to a room that I had had my imps carve out. "Watch then." I pointed my hand forward.

But nothing happened.

That was strange. Why couldn't I make a torture chamber? All I had had to do to create the other places was just imagine it and then...

That was the problem.

"Why can't I think of what a torture chamber would look like?"

"Because you don't know." Meeko stepped up to me. "Every Underlord begins with only a small bit of knowledge. Underlord Konaku designed it that way so that no Underlord could rise against him. They would have to research and learn, and if an Underlord became too strong and showed even the slightest sign of treason, he destroyed them before they could become too strong."

"Then... how did he die?"

"His own arrogance. Underlords thing they're immortal as long as their Heart exists, but that's only somewhat true. Their Heart sustains you indefinitely, but like a lich, you must feed on souls in order to keep yourself alive. Fail to do so, and your Heart will weaken. If you fail to feed on souls for long enough, your Heart goes dormant. Once that happens, you're as good as dead."

I winced. "So... he stopped feeding on souls?"

Meeko nodded. "Once his Heart went dormant, his minions realized they were no longer under his control. After all the terrible things he had done to them, they revolted. With no way to protect his Heart, they destroyed it." Meeko slammed her fist into her hand. "His Heart crumbled to dust, and those monsters began a revolt against all Underlords. With the knowledge of how to kill an Underlord, monsters no longer had to fear them. Now, we work for them if they satisfy us. If not?" Meeko grabbed a rock from the ground and smashed it.

I cowered behind a pillar of the portal. "A-all right, I get it."

Meeko smirked. "Good."

"So, how do I summon more minions?"

"Your portal can only bring in as many minions as you can control. As it stands, you have a lair, a butchery, and a training room. Luckily for you, that shoggoth doesn't require anything to sustain itself. I, on the other hand, require everything you have built. That means, your dungeon is full."

"Then I need to build more lairs and things?"

Meeko nodded. "That is correct."

I nodded. I turned to the empty room and began again. I started by constructing more lairs. According to Meeko, every creature liked to have their own lair, save for a few. Things like pyroflies had no problem creating a nest in a single lair, but that lair needed to be big enough to sustain more and more pyroflies as they created a bigger colony.

I wondered how big it needed to be. I mean, in my world you could have an entire wasps nest in a space as big as the palm of your hand. Needless to say, I was rather surprised when I opened the portal and summoned a pyrofly. It wasn't a tiny little big as I had expected, but instead a huge monster at least three or four feet in length. The bug's wings were like tiny flames that flapped at a ridiculous speed, and according to Meeko, they could even breath fire.

No wonder they needed so much space for an entire colony.

Meeko then explained that if I wanted more powerful creatures, I would need to learn to build better rooms. She explained how to construct an arcane sanctuary, and I constructed one. That was when I opened the portal again.

The creature that stepped through this time looked almost human, if not for her dark blue skin. Her face and body were completely twisted and her hair, while long, looked as if much of it had fallen out, leaving only thin patches of hair. I covered my eyes when I realized she was completely naked.

"That's a hag," Meeko spoke up. "She'll spend most of her time perusing the arcane sanctuary, researching and writing. As she does, you'll get more knowledge, or as you Underlords like to call it 'Sins'. Those sins will allow you to create more. Be warned, though. Your sins are stored in your arcane sanctuary. If it should fall, you'll forget everything."

"Another failsafe Konaku put in place?" I questioned.

Meeko nodded. "Crush an Underlord's sanctuary, and he'll lose all knowledge of how to defend himself. That's why it's important you keep it safe."

"I understand... also... is she... going to put any clothes on?"

"She's a hag, they don't wear clothes. Honestly, if you're going to worry about modesty, you're not fit to be an Underlord."

"It's not like I chose to be one!"

"Nope, but nothing is stopping you from destroying your Heart and moving on."

I was about to respond when I suddenly had a pit in my stomach.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know... I felt kind of sick for a moment..."

"Your dungeon is in trouble!" Meeko shouted. "Call your minions together, quickly!"

With a clap of my hands, my minions came running to me. "The dungeon is in trouble!" I repeated. That was when I realized I had no idea what to do about it. I didn't know what was happening, what was attacking, or what kind of danger I was in.

Meeko slapped her forehead. "Focus, Underlord! Feel where they are and tell us where to go."

"'Feel where they are?'"

Meeko glared at me. "You're seriously the stupidest Underlord I've ever met."

"I just became an Underlord yesterday!"

"And even newer Underlords are more knowledgeable than you are!" Meeko shoved me out of the way as she turned to my minions. "Let's run to the Heart, they're likely making their way there!"

Seriously, why was she ordering MY minions around? Still, she had a point there. I sighed and resigned to following along.

\-----

We arrived at the Heart in a short amount of time. It was just like Meeko had said, the trouble was making its way to the Heart.

There were two dwarves dressed in plate mail armor from head to toe. They both had mining picks on their backs along with a shield and an axe in their hands. "Oy! Thare's the Underlord's beasties now!" one of them shouted. I'll refer to them as Brownbeard and Redbeard since those were the colors of their beards.

"Ye take care o' tha Heart. I'll take care o' them." Brownbeard rushed forward.

My pyrofly took in a breath and released a burst of flame from its mouth. When Meeko had said they breathed fire, I had expected something a bit more... dangerous... This was more just like a puff of fire, enough to maybe singe you, but not enough to kill you.

Brownbeard brought his axe around and with a single swing chopped off the pyrofly's head. "Tha' tha best ye got?"

The hag held up her hand and began to mutter an incantation. It sounded dark and twisted, and after only a moment dark tentacles rose from the ground and attempted to grab at the dwarf's hands and legs.

"Oh no ye don't!" Brownbeard shouted and began to swing his axe. The tentacles dispersed into magical dust with each swing of his axe.

I turned, noticing Redbeard had now pulled out his pickaxe. He was beginning to chip away at the cubes. I felt a sharp pain go through my body like a needle jabbing me with each cube he struck.

"Shogy, stop them from damaging the Heart!" Meeko shouted.

The shoggoth began to move across the ground. Brownbeard swung his axe at it, but the ooze just split and went around the axe, forming back up on the other side. It soon slid right passed Brownbeard and moved towards Redbeard.

"Shoggoth on its way!" Brownbeard shouted.

Redbeard quickly put away his pickaxe and drew out his axe. As the shoggoth grew closer, the axe began to glow.

Then, suddenly, Redbeard dropped to his knees. He coughed, expelling blood out of his mouth. "Th-they... got me..." he collapsed and I noticed Meeko was standing over his body. Her nails had now extended like claws.

"Damn! Ah cannae take them alone." Brownbeard quickly put away his axe and tried to run. Before he could escape, though, the shoggoth rose up in front of him and covered him. I heard the dwarf scream in pain, and after a moment nothing but the dwarf's equipment and bones remained.

I gave a sigh of relief. "Thanks..."

Meeko stomped over to me and point one of her claws in my face. "You did nothing that whole time."

"What am I supposed to do? I don't know how to fight."

Meeko growled. She kicked me in the stomach and I doubled over. "You didn't spend any time in your Heart when you came here, did you?"

"Wh-what does that matter?"

"Your Heart has a lot of information you need to know before you even start building your dungeon. Most Underlords spend a minimum of three days in there before they even begin building their dungeon."

"Th-three days? I would have been killed by those dwarves if I had done that."

Meeko shook her head. "You weren't connected to the gates of evil until you opened your first portal. That means nothing could reach you, not even other Underlords. Now you're connected to the gates and you have precious little time to learn what it means to be an Underlord."

"I didn't know..."

"Damn right you didn't know." Meeko turned and marched back to the body of the dead dwarf. She lifted it up and tossed it into the Heart. At once, I felt a wave of energy flow through me and all the pain I had felt was gone. I could see the damaged cubes begin to repair themselves and soon the Heart was whole again.

Meeko turned back to look at me. "Get back into your Heart and learn. I'll keep your Heart safe."

I nodded. I only hoped she could do just that. If dwarves found me so easily, it meant bigger and more dangerous things would find me as well. I had to be ready, I had to be knowledgeable of what was coming and what I needed to do.

I stepped up to the Heart and stepped inside of the cubes. At once, I felt the dark energy flow into me again. Knowledge flowed through my mind, and the more I learned, the more I realized how dumb I had been. I knew I would have to apologize to Meeko when I got out of here. I just hoped she could hold out until then.

\-----

"Was that really necessary?" the hag questioned as she stepped up to Meeko.

"I'm tired of serving idiots," Meeko responded. "If he can't learn even the basics, I'm not going to stick around."

The hag nodded. "You've seen your share of Underlords, then?"

Meeko looked down. "Yes. Yes, I have..."


	3. Chapter 3

Three days. Just as Meeko had said, I stayed in my Heart for three days. The dark energy of my Heart poured through my body and I learned. I learned of magical incantations I could utter to cast spells and defend myself. I learned that the body I thought I had was only a projection to my minions. That was why the dwarves hadn't reacted to me at all, they couldn't see me.

I learned that the real me, my real body, was the dungeon. The Heart of my dungeon was literally my heart. When I am outside of the Heart, I project my mind out. That was why I couldn't learn and be active. I learned that, because my body is a projection, I could move my projection to anywhere in my dungeon. I could even project my mind into the mind of a minion and take full control of them.

Because the dungeon was my body, I could see and feel every part of it when I wasn't projecting my mind. These were the things that were important that I needed to know, and these were just the basics of how everything worked. There was so much more to discover and to learn. That was the point of the arcane sanctuary.

I let myself project out to my dungeon, creating a physical form for myself again. I almost didn't even recognize my own dungeon now. Meeko had done a lot while I had been in my Heart. It seemed as though she had had the imps dig out a few more areas. I closed my eyes and looked over the dungeon. She had made several very organized rooms.

"You're back," Meeko spoke. I opened my eyes and turned. She was still dressed in that same outfit, and she had her arms folded across her chest.

"I'm surprised," I responded to her.

"About what?"

"What you've done with the place, the fact you're wearing the same clothes, and how much I learned."

I swear I saw Meeko smile for a moment, but if she did, she changed her expression back to blank pretty quickly. "It's not like I have anything else to wear."

"Really? But, aren't we going to be fighting? Shouldn't you have something protective on?"

Meeko scoffed. "This outfit is both heat resistant and cold resistant. And I don't need protection when I have my speed."

"Yeah, but... I mean, I saw some of the things we'll have to fight against... Sure, the dwarves weren't too difficult for you, but what about ogres or wyverns or things like that?"

"Well, if you want to protect me from stuff like that, then you'd better get to work making a blacksmith."

Ah! I remembered that during my time in the Heart, I had received some extra new information. I could only guess it was from the arcane sanctuary. "Where do you recommend I build it? I noticed the dungeon layout is very neat and organized."

Meeko seemed to blush at that. "Y-you're asking me?"

"Well, yeah. I figured you had some idea of where to put certain rooms."

Meeko turned away. I could tell her annoyed expression was fake. "Well, it's not my dungeon, you know? It's up to you where to put things. I just figured this looked good."

I chuckled. "Alright, then." I turned and walked into one of the empty rooms. I had decided the blacksmith should be on the opposite side of my Heart from the sanctuary, that way the hammering of the forge wouldn't bother the minions who were trying to study. With a wave of my hand, I filled the room with anvils, forges, and other things that would be needed for weapon and armor construction.

In a blink of an eye, I moved from there to the portal room. I was eager to see what would come through to work the forge. I remembered what the Heart had told me, but there were multiple creatures that could be attracted to my dungeon by the forge. I held out my hand and watched the portal open.

Did the ground just shake? I didn't feel like any part of me was in danger.

The ground shook again! It had to be whatever was coming through the portal. I tried to think about what it could be. Maybe it was a troll? No, they were big, but they didn't weigh a lot, so the ground shouldn't have been shaking. It could be a giant, but weren't most giants good aligned?

I had my answer when a very large woman stepped through the portal. When I say large, I don't mean she was wide, I mean she was tall. She was so tall, in fact, that I thought she was going to hit her head on the top of the ceiling. Her skin looked like it was charred black and her hair and eyes were as red as fire. She had a giant sword in one hand, and when I say giant, I mean the blade alone had to have been twice my height!

"U-umm... h-hello." I called up to her.

The giant looked down at me. "You are the Underlord that summoned me?"

"Umm... y-yes?"

The giant smiled, then knelt down. Even kneeling down, she was still at least twice my height. "I am Ragnhild of the Rentari."

"Ren...tari?"

"In the common tongue, you'd call them 'fire giants'," Meeko responded as she walked into the portal room.

A fire giant? That explained the dark skin and the fiery hair and eyes. "Nice to meet you, Ragnhild. Please, make yourself at home. I have many lairs you can choose from."

"Take me to the one closest to your forge."

I called for an imp and it directed Ragnhild to the appropriate lair. I looked to Meeko with a look of concern. I was worried she would step on other denizens of the dungeon due to her size. I vocalized that opinion.

"You've got nothing to fear," Meeko responded. "Oh, by the way, payday is coming soon. You haven't even built a vault yet, let alone created some gold to pay us with."

I blinked in confusion for a moment. It had only been four days and payday was already coming up? I voiced my confusion.

"Well, it's not 'coming up' as in tomorrow, but yes, you have to pay your minions at least once a week to keep them happy." Meeko's nails turned into claws. "You wouldn't want us to be unhappy, right?"

"Of course not!" I waved my hands. I quickly went back to my Heart. Meeko was right, I needed to build a vault, somewhere to store gold. I remembered that the Heart had taught me how to turn my mana into gold, and so I reached forward and went to work. I had the imps mine out a room then began to pour mana into it. After a moment, the mana solidified into gold and scattered across the ground.

Meeko clapped her hands. "You're doing much better."

"Well, it's thanks to you, Meeko."

Meeko blushed and turned. "I-I didn't do it just for you, you know? We could all get killed if you didn't know how to defend your own dungeon."

"I appreciate it. I really do. Why don't we get you some armor? Ragnhild should be able to make you some."

Meeko nodded and we made our way to the forge.

\-----

Just as I used mana to create gold, I could also use mana to create iron for Ragnhild to use for smithing. We spent a good while in the forge as Ragnhild measured Meeko then began to work. I was surprised that someone of her size could make such small and delicate equipment, yet she worked the metal and forged armor for Meeko as if she had been doing it her whole life. According to Ragnhild, she had been.

I still wasn't sure about this new set of armor, since it wasn't a complete set of metal armor. Much of it was actually made of leather, another resource I had had to create using mana. There was a firm set of metal plates that covered her chest and bust, along with around her waist and some of her arms and legs. Still, the majority of it was form-fitting leather.

"It's called half-plate," Meeko responded. "It's not heavy armor, but it's not light either. For someone like me, who relies on speed, it's really the best."

"If she was to wear a suit of full plate armor, she'd barely be able to move," Ragnhild interjected. "She's simply not strong enough to be able to wear it."

Meeko smiled. "Don't worry, she made sure to also interlace the armor with tons of elements, so it'll be plenty resistant to both physical and magical attacks."

"Shouldn't you at least carry a weapon?" I spoke with concern.

Meeko's nails grew into claws again. "Do you really think I need weapons?"

"Well, how are you going to like... block a sword or something like that?"

Meeko grabbed one of the swords that Ragnhild had made and tossed it at me. I fumbled with it. "Come at me with it."

I gripped the sword and readied myself. I had... absolutely no idea how to use it, but I figured it couldn't be that hard. I stepped forward and swung the sword.

Meeko stared. "Really? That's the best you've got?"

I hadn't even come close to hitting her. "I don't know how to use it, okay?"

Ragnhild reached over and grabbed her sword. She pushed me out of the way and held her sword in front of her. Meeko grinned.

Ragnhild swung and Meeko quickly ducked under the blade. Before Ragnhild could even react, Meeko had rushed around behind her. She slashed at Ragnhild's leg, then flipped backwards a few times.

Ragnhild turned and rushed at Meeko, but with every swing she made, Meeko simply ducked, jumped, or stepped aside.

After a moment, Ragnhild jammed her sword into the ground and smiled. "You're strong."

"Thanks, you're not bad yourself," Meeko responded with a smile. She then turned to me. "See? Don't need a sword or a shield to defend with when you can dodge everything."

"You are incredibly fast..."

Meeko smirked. "I pride myself in my agility."

Things were looking up. I had a giant, a cat girl, a shoggoth, and a hag. I still had room for more minions, but things had been calm so far. I wasn't going to rush to make an army. Still, I knew I'd have to keep building my forces and my dungeon, because at some point, another Underlord or more heroes were going to come after me.

\-----

Sar'goroth's Heart beat as a knight dressed in black armor knelt before it. "What news have you?" Sar'goroth's voice boomed through the room.

"Another Underlord has appeared, Master," the knight spoke. "His name is Abraxas."

"Does he pose us any threat?"

"Not yet, Master. However, he is near Mal'gor's domain."

Sar'goroth chuckled. "Good. Alert Mal'gor of the new Underlord's presence. Ensure Mal'gor feels threatened enough to attack. That will serve as a test to see how smart and how strong this new Underlord is."

"At once, Master." The knight stood to his feet and marched deeper into the dungeon.

"Underlord Abraxas, huh? Well, let's see just how strong you are."


	4. Chapter 4

Goblins... I had gotten a small army of goblins... I had a hag, I had a cat girl, I had a shoggoth, I even had a giant... Then the next thing I know, what walks through my portal? A small army of six goblins...

"Goblins tend to come in packs," Meeko responded to my annoyance. "It's why you summoned six at all once."

"But they're going to take up all the lairs... and their goblins! They're practically cannon fodder."

"Actually, goblins are like pyroflies. They tend to bunk together in a single lair." Meeko took me by the arm and dragged me along until we reached where the goblins had made their lair. "See?"

The goblins had thrown multiple animal skins all across the room. About four of them were lying on the animal skins, sleeping away, while the other two were chatting as they sat around a smokeless campfire.

"Well, that's good, but they're still weak... How are they going to defend me?"

Meeko clapped her hands. At once, all six of the goblins shot to their feet and saluted. "Your Underlord demands you train!" she barked. "You filthy maggots need to prove yourselves, or he'll throw you into his Heart and consume your souls!"

The goblins screamed and rushed off to the training room I had constructed.

"You're an Underlord, remember?" Meeko turned to me. She pointed her finger at me. "You're supposed to be evil incarnate. Some minions will only follow your bidding out of fear, so you got to make them fear you."

"Is that so? And what about you, huh? You and the hag don't seem to have an inkling of fear for me."

Meeko chuckled. "That's cause you're pathetic and there's nothing to fear about you."

I felt a pit form in my stomach. "Surely there's something to be scared of..."

Meeko stared at me for a moment, then tried to stifle a laugh. She quickly covered her mouth, but it wasn't enough, she burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"I say there's nothing scary about you... and you instantly act like a hurt puppy!"

I folded my arms while Meeko kept laughing. I blushed a bit, trying to look angry, but I was more embarrassed than anything.

Meeko wiped a tear from her eye when she finished laughing. "I'm sorry, but you're so cute and harmless. You also default to your minions as soon as something comes up. It makes it har to be scared of you when you're always looking for advice from your underlings."

"W-well, what am I supposed to do? You all know more about this world than I do. It's not like I want to die."

"Oh, I understand that completely. I've just never seen an Underlord like you before."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you're not the first Underlord I've worked for. How do you think I know so much about how Underlords work?"

I went to speak, but no words came out. She was right, how did she know so much? She had to have had former masters. "What happened to the others?"

Meeko's expression changed instantly. Her eyes lowered, her smile vanished, and she turned away. She was silent for a moment. "Most of them fell because of other Underlords."

That raised a question in my mind. "What happens when an Underlord kills another one?"

"What do you mean?" Meeko turned, tilting her head.

"Well, if my dungeon is my body, what happens to it? Does it just crumble? Does it become a part of the other Underlords? For that matter, how do we move? How do we interact with other Underlords?"

Meeko turned away. She was silent again for a moment. Just as I was about to ask again, she grabbed me by the wrist. "I'll show you."

Meeko dragged me back to my Heart. "Do you know where you are right now?"

"My Heart, obviously." I didn't understand the question.

Meeko bonked me on the head. "Obviously, idiot! But that's not what I asked! I asked if you know where you are right now."

"I don't understand."

"Where is your dungeon? Where does it exist? How does it exist?"

I went to answer, then realized I didn't know any of the answers to those questions. I remembered the Heart had told me I existed in some kind of extra planar space, but I didn't really understand what that meant.

Meeko began to use her claws to scratch into the walls around my Heart. First, she made a circle, then she surrounded that circle with another circle. "This is the Material Plane," Meeko spoke as she pointed to the first circle. "It encompasses the world, the Great Black Beyond, and just about everything that exists within it."

Meeko now pointed to the second circle. "This is a place known as the Ethereal Plane. It's a place where things like spirits exist." She created a slash through both circles. "The Ethereal Plane touches the Material Plane and vice versa. Things that exist on the Ethereal Plane can see the Material Plane, but they cannot interact with it. However, things on the Material Plane cannot see anything on the Ethereal Plane, but they can interact with it."

I was already confused. "What do you mean?"

"If I picked up a stone and threw it, I'm interacting with both the Material Plane and the Ethereal Plane. When I move, the ethereal part of my body - what you might call a soul - moves as well. Because of that, I can interact with the Ethereal Plane. Think about it like this, have you ever had a sudden chill you couldn't explain? Have you felt strange things that made no physical sense?"

I nodded.

"Because you interacted with something on the Ethereal Plane, you just couldn't see it. When a ghost passes through you, it's only interacting with your Ethereal side. Because of that, you can't see it, but you can feel it. It is impossible to physically touch or harm you, because physically you exist on the Material Plane. It's for that reason that some creatures can move between the planes."

"So... we're on this... Ethereal Plane?" I asked.

Meeko shook her head. She slashed a second time at the image, creating a second line. "We're in between, yet outside of both of them. We cannot interact with either without a portal or a gate. This allows us to live freely without fear of harm from either plane, unless they also go through a gate or portal."

Meeko scratched a picture of a terrifying structure. It looked like the skull of a dragon, but its mouth hung open wide. At the back of its gaping maw, she drew what I could only guess was some sort of portal. "There are the gates of evil. Underlord Konaku created them long ago, but he wasn't the first to make one."

"He wasn't the first? But wasn't he the first Underlord?"

Meeko nodded. "How do you think the Underlords came to be? Do you think they just poofed into existence?"

"I... I hadn't really thought about it. I mean... I just sort of... woke up as an Underlord..."

"Because your soul was pulled here. People believe that somewhere there exists the 'Far Plane'. From there, spirits unlike ours come into this world. For some, those spirits are pulled into a place called the Spirit Stream and they become the Children of the Stars. Others, however, do not. They are pulled here into this place and become Underlords."

Meeko sighed. "Before Konaku became an Underlord, this place did not exist. This place was created by one of the Children of the Stars. Konaku was given control over it afterwards."

"So... a child made the gates of evil?"

Meeko shook her head. "It's just a name. The Children of the Stars are essentially immortal. So, no one knows how old the one who made this place was. All we know is that once Konaku was given charge over this place, he drew in spirits that should have became Children of the Stars. They became Underlords."

It was a lot to take in. I hadn't expected the answer to my question to be so complex, and Meeko hadn't even explained everything I had asked yet. "What happens to us and our dungeons when we die then?"

"That's up to whoever kills you. If it's one of the Heroes, your dungeon will crumble, your minions will be all dead or captured, and you will die. If it is another Underlord that kills you, however..." Meeko paused. "Sometimes, they consume you. Your soul and dungeon become a part of them. As for your minions, each Underlord is different, but some will open a portal and allow them to leave. Otherwise will capture, convert, or even kill them."

"And what happened to you and the Underlords you followed before me?"

"I told you, didn't I? They fell to other Underlords."

"But what about you?"

Meeko stared at me in confusion.

"I summoned you, right? I didn't steal you from another Underlord. I summoned you through a portal. Did the Underlords that defeated yours just let you go?"

Meeko's eyes turned down, then her head slowly moved down. "No... I served Underlord after Underlord, each time I had a master, they were destroyed and I was taken in by the new Underlord. Each was more sinister and evil than the last..."

"Then what happened?"

Meeko looked up at me.

I felt pain run through my body. "I'm under attack!" I shouted. With a clap of my hands, my minions rushed to my side from every part of my dungeon. "The northern passage, there's something there."

"Well, well," I heard a voice echo through my dungeon. "So, this is Underlord Abraxas, is it?"

"Shit, it's another Underlord," Meeko spoke up. "I think it's Mal'gor."

"Right you are, dear Meeko. I was wondering where you had run off to."

"What does he mean?" I asked.

"Mal'gor was my laster master. I broke free from him by sneaking out through a gate of evil during a siege. I had hoped he had been destroyed by those heroes."

Mal'gor chuckled. "Nonsense. Do you really think I would fall to a group of heroes? How weak do you think I am? After all, did I not slay Underlord Er'gak just to claim you as my prize?"

Meeko growled. "I'm not going back, Mal'gor."

"You don't have a choice, my dear." The ground rumbled. I turned to look to the northern passage. A band of monsters, both big and small, were charging through my dungeon, straight to my Heart. "Farewell, Underlord Abraxas."

I held out my hand and lightning coursed through my body. A massive bolt of lightning shot out and struck several of the monsters. It halted the charge for only a moment as the smaller and weaker creatures in the front lines were fried.

"We can't let them destroy the Heart!" I shouted.

My minions rushed forward. I watched as Ragnhild's massive sword cleaved multiple enemies in a single swing. The goblins all stood behind her, firing arrow after arrow from their bows. They had good precision, and they felled many enemies. Yet, it didn't seem to matter how many fell, more came.

At first it was a front line of mostly goblins, then came a line of orcs. The orcs brandished their axes and charged into battle without a thought or care. Arrows jabbed into their chests, yet they responded with roars and continued to charge. Three, four, five arrows an orc, yet they refused to go down.

An orc finally broke through the rank of my goblins and with a single swing of his axe cleaved two in half.

I held my hands forward and muttered an incantation. A massive explosion of fire erupted in the center of the monster horde. Several were thrown back and others badly burned, yet they stood again to their feet.

An orc rushed the line and charged straight towards my Heart. Meeko jumped forward, slashing the orc several times in the chest, leaving gaping wounds that gushed blood. The orc collapsed a few inches from the Heart and Meeko kicked him into it.

The fallen orc delivered magic into my Heart. I unleashed another bolt of lightning straight through the center of the monsters.

A golem of stone rushed through the horde, unaffected by my bolt. The goblins fired volleys of arrows, but the beast was made of pure stone, their arrows simply bounced off.

"Shogy!" Meeko shouted and the shoggoth rushed forward. It sat itself right in the golems path. As the golem's leg touched the shoggoth, it gripped the golem and began to crawl up its leg. The golem swung at the ooze, but with each strike, more of the ooze simply ended up on the golem. Soon, the shoggoth had completely covered the golem.

I heard the hag chuckle. She twirled her fingers and uttered a horrible incantation. Massive spikes shot from the walls, impaling several of the creatures in the approaching horde.

It wasn't enough, though. There were more coming, creatures bigger and more deadly than goblins or orcs. I could see two ogres lumbering forward, a stupid grin on their faces. Their giant, overweight bodies jiggled as they stomped through the cavern.

I pointed my finger forward. I hadn't yet mastered this spell, but I had to use it. I shouted an incantation and one of the orcs stopped in its path. It began to thrash about in a mad rage, slamming ally and foe alike with its massive club.

The other ogre turned, dumbfounded by its friend's blind rage. Its face was immediately caved in with a swing from its ally's club. It fell, crushing several of its allies with its body.

"You're not as weak as I had thought," Mal'gor responded. "It's no matter, though. Release the behemoth!"

I heard a deep growl come from deep down the cavern. My goblins shook in fear as they readied their bows.

"What's a behemoth?" I asked Meeko.

"That!"

It was a creature standing at least twenty feet tall. It walked on all four legs and had two massive horns on its head. Large spikes ran down its backside and I could see giant fangs when it opened its mouth to growl. Its eyes gave off a deep, blood red glow. The goblins fired their arrows, but the creatures skin was as tough as rocks. The arrows simply bounced off of it.

"M-Meeko? H-how do we deal with that?"

Meeko didn't respond. Her eyes were wide with fear and her legs shook. I could see the fur on her ears and tail standing on end.


	5. Chapter 5

Ragnhild wiped the sweat from her brow. She had spent the last few hours fitting the new members of my dungeon with new armor and weaponry. Mal'gor had relied heavily on his behemoth, thinking himself unstoppable because of it, and had not put the time into ensuring his other minions had decent armor and weaponry.

Many of the orcs cheered now that they were dressed in real armor as opposed to what they had been dressed in before. Several even commended Ragnhild for her craftsmanship, stating that they had never seen such fine weapons in their life.

Ragnhild gave a smile whenever someone said those words. She seemed excited by the fact that the orcs thought so highly of her weaponry. I asked about it. "The Rentari are masters of the fire and forge," Ragnhild stated. "Because of that, we expect a certain quality in our works." She paused and gave a sigh. "My people were never satisfied with my work... It was always only subpar at best. It is nice to see others think my work is great."

If this stuff she was making was subpar at best, then what did the Rentari usually make? Even in my world, the kinds of armor I was used to seeing weren't as strong or durable as Ragnhild's work.

Oh! More information had just been added to the sanctuary. I could now make a prison. I closed my eyes, allowing myself to take in the full knowledge that had been added. With a prison, I could not only store prisoners, but the magic of a properly constructed prison would slowly sap their energy, giving it to me as mana. Eventually, they would die in the prison, but their souls would remain bound to their bodies, turning them into undead under my command.

It wasn't just enemies I could store there, either. I could throw my own minions into the prison if I so desired. I remembered the first few things I had learned from my Heart - that Underlords would throw their minions into the prisons if they dared to go against them.

I commanded my imps to dig out a new area of my dungeon. Soon, a large enough room had been constructed for me to construct the prison. With a wave of my hands, the ground became blighted. Iron bars rose up from beneath the ground, as if they had always been there, but in reality I was converting my mana into the bars. A single door served as the entrance and exit of the prison.

"It is good," Ragnhild responded as she examined the prison. "I can feel the necrotic energies just by stepping near it."

"Now we just need something to put into it," I responded.

"Goblins are puny. They would be stronger if they were undead."

Ragnhild wasn't wrong. Zombies were stronger than goblins, even if they were goblin zombies. I had only a few goblins left after that attack, but it had been them that had allowed me to best the behemoth. Well, it had been me taking control of them that allowed me to best it. It wasn't just them. Turning them into undead also meant I wouldn't need to give them lairs, freeing up space in my dungeon for more creatures.

Just as I was about to make a choice, I felt my dungeon be breeched once more. I called my minions together and they charged into battle.

\-----

It had been a small group of heroes; a knight, a couple dwarves, a mage, nothing more than that. They didn't have the strength to best my minions. The knight had fallen when the orcs charged, the dwarves had been taken out without a challenge by Meeko, and the mage had been slashed in half by Ragnhild's sword.

The knight and dwarves had not been killed, because of that, I was able to have them dragged to the prison. The moment their unconscious bodies entered the prison, I felt power flow through my body. The prison was sapping their very life force.

I stood and watched my prisoners. They had eventually awoken, but they were barely able to even stand. It had not taken long for the life force of the dwarves to be drained away.

I watched as the dwarves first began to stumble, then drop to their knees. I could see their eyes fade to white. Their mouths hung open and their bodies went limp. After a moment, I saw their eyes decay. Their skin became gray and much of it began to rot away until bone became visible underneath. As the process finished, the dwarves stood to their feet and shambled forward towards the door. The door opened on its own, allowing the two zombies to walk out of the prison.

So, that was how the prison did it.

I looked back at the knight, who cursed me. He exclaimed that others would come and they would bring me to justice. I turned away.

"Have you decided what to do with the goblins?" Ragnhild questioned me as I stepped out into the rest of the dungeon.

"I'm not going to subject my own minions to that," I responded. "I'm not even sure I can stand to see my enemies wandering my dungeon in that state. Thinking about having to see my own loyal minions walking through my dungeon in such a state..." I shuttered. "I don't think I could live with that."

Ragnhild chuckled. "For an Underlord, you are not as evil as I would expect."

"Are other Underlords that terrible?"

Ragnhild was silent for a long moment. "You do not know what it takes to summon a titanic creature, do you?"

"Titanic creature?" I questioned.

"Like the behemoth we fought."

I shook my head. "My sanctuary has no information on titanic creatures, yet."

"I am not surprised. You do not yet have a sacrificial altar."

Sacrificial altar? That was something I could make? I shuttered at the very thought of that.

"When you do, you will be able to summon humans into your dungeon. These humans will form a cult worshiping you. They will do anything you command simply because it is your will. They will live and die by your command."

"And... that's how you summon a titanic creature?"

Ragnhild nodded before folding her arms across her chest. "You will be able to perform a ritual to summon one. Your Heart, however, only has enough power to bind itself to one titanic creature. As such, you will have to make a choice of what you wish to summon. Regardless of your choice, though, you will have to either capture many enemies to sacrifice, or you must sacrifice your own minions. Only through that can you summon a titanic creature."

I shuttered at that. That had meant that Mal'gor had sacrificed many creatures in order to summon his behemoth. Considering what Meeko had said about Mal'gor using her as a chew toy for his behemoth, I had no doubts that Mal'gor had no issues murdering a bunch of people to summon such a creature.

"Is it possible to take a titanic creature from another Underlord?"

Ragnhild turned to look at me. "What do you mean?"

"I sent the behemoth away because of how Meeko reacted to it. Could I have kept Mal'gor's behemoth?"

Ragnhild shook her head. "Titanic creatures only serve one master. Once they freed from it, they must be returned. Failure to do so will cause the beast to go wild. You saw in the fight yourself, the beasts are mindless. Underlords cannot even possess titanic creatures to control them. It is why you were able to turn the behemoth against its master. Without a master, the creature is unbound, and cannot be controlled by any means."

"That's why he couldn't prevent it from destroying his Heart."

"Exactly. Once he was left with nothing but the behemoth to fend his dungeon, he had no way of preventing it from destroying him." Ragnhild smirked. "It is funny to think that you were able to turn it against him. No one has been able to best an Underlord that has a titanic creature without one of their own."

"I guess I got lucky, then."

Ragnhild and I stood there, watching the dungeon for a long moment.

"Ragnhild?"

"Yes?" Ragnhild turned to me.

"Is there anything more powerful than a titanic creature?"

Ragnhild's face fell. She turned away, silent for a long moment. I stared at her, waiting for an answer, but it seemed as though she wouldn't give me one.

"I'll take that as a yes." I turned to look away.

"The Reaper."

I turned back to look at her. "The Reaper?"

"It is a daemon, or so they say. During the days of Underlord Konaku, it is said that he summoned a creature so terrifyingly powerful that even he could not control it. When it nearly killed him, Underlord Konaku sealed the Reaper away inside of a talisman, then broke it into four pieces. Only legends exist about where the pieces are now hidden."

"And... this Reaper... would be powerful enough to even combat a titanic creature?"

Ragnhild nodded. "It would be strong enough that even if all of the Underlords in the Underworld came together, none of them would be able to destroy it."

I grimaced. Something so powerful that even the first Underlord couldn't control it, so powerful even all the Underlords combined couldn't defeat it. I wondered what something like that could even be. "Ragnhild?"

"Yes?"

"What purpose do we Underlords have? Why do we exist?"

"No one knows. Underlord Konaku was the first, but even Underlord Konaku did not know why he had been given this place."

"Do Underlords ever wish they could leave this place?" I asked. "I mean... Meeko said that some of us are out there in the Overworld, right? That we should have become Children of the Stars? Do they ever wish they could return and be like them?"

"Do you?"

This time, it was my chance to be silent. I thought about it. I didn't like being evil. It seemed like a fun concept at first, being evil, controlling a bunch of monsters, commanding them into battle after battle. It was something akin to what someone who played as a Game Master might enjoy. But... those were just figures on a board, numbers on a sheet... These were real creatures, real people, real lives.

Every creature that came into my dungeon, whether allies or enemies, were real and alive. The wizard that had been cleaved in two, the dwarves I had sucked the life force out of, the knight who currently sat in my prison who was slowly dying, the goblins, orcs, pyroflies, Meeko, Ragnhild, everyone and everything else... All of them were alive, all of them were real.

Every battle meant someone died. Every Underlord I destroyed meant a life that I snuffed out. Could I really keep going? Could I just keep killing and killing? Mal'gor had been evil, for sure, but had he really deserved to be killed?

I sighed. Why had I been put into this position of being an Underlord? I wasn't evil before. Sure, I had been a thug in my past life for a while, but we didn't kill people. We had our fights, yes, but we never killed.

Now, though... now I had no choice. Other Underlords were going to kill me if I didn't kill them first. Was there any way to reason with them? Was it possible that any of them felt the way I did? I didn't know, but I had to find out.

"How do I find other Underlords?"

"Your will be able to sense them from your Heart. Once you do, you only need to move there."

I nodded. I allowed myself to return to my Heart. I allowed my senses to reach out to the Underworld, searching for another Underlord.

\-----

Underlord Hecate opened her eyes, then turned to look at the minion closest to her. The creature was a succubus - a female demonic creature that looked mostly human. Like most succubi, she wore almost nothing, having only enough clothing to cover certain parts of her body. "Nefatiri?" Hecate questioned with a soft voice.

"Yes, Mistress?" the succubus questioned as she stopped and turned. She knelt before Hecate's Heart which was seven stone rings swirling around a glowing object.

"An Underlord approaches."

"You wish us to prepare to fight?"

"Indeed. Call my minions out of the combat pit and ensure the spirit doctors heal them up. I do not sense much strength in this Underlord, but it would be best to be prepared anyway. He may choose to pass us by, or he may choose to fight."

"As you wish, Mistress." Nefatiri stood to her feet and marched off into the dungeon.

"Underlord Abraxas..." Hecate spoke. "After all I've done to remain hidden from the other Underlords, you start moving right towards me. Have you managed to discover me, I wonder? Or is this simply a coincidence? I guess we will have to find out."


	6. Chapter 6

"Her name is Underlord Hecate," Meeko spoke. "According to the information the hag could find, Hecate has been a relatively neutral Underlord. While she has fought against the Knights of Light, she has avoided nearly every conflict she has ever had with other Underlords."

I folded my arms as I leaned against my Heart. "So, she's not evil and out to kill like other Underlords."

"Not that I can tell. Underlord Hecate also mysteriously vanished about two months ago. No Underlord had been able to sense or find her in that time. It was even believed she might have been destroyed by the Knights."

"Yet, I was able to find her somehow... I wonder why..." I lifted an arm and put my hand to my chin. "I suppose that doesn't matter too much. What matters is that we make contact with her and avoid conflict to the best of our abilities."

"Speaking of making contact..."

I heard Hecate's voice suddenly echo throughout my dungeon. "Underlord Abraxas, you will come no closer."

"Underlord Hecate, I've come to you in hopes of avoiding conflict," I responded back. "I wish to speak with you directly."

"You expect me to believe that? I have been told by other Underlords that they wish to 'avoid conflict' only so that I may open my Heart up for them to conquer."

"I promise you, Underlord Hecate, I seek no such thing. To prove this, I shall open my own Heart to you so that you may come to me." My dungeon rumbled for a moment and the cubes that formed my Heart divided and swirled around themselves. "Is this acceptable?"

There was silence for a long moment. I turned to Meeko, then turned to my Heart. I waited again, but was again met with silence.

Then, I watched as a woman manifested in front of me. She was absolutely stunning, having bright red hair and red eyes. A pair of horns stuck out the sides of her head and a long pointed tail came from her back side. She was dressed in quite the provocative outfit. It almost looked like what a dominatrix might wear as it was comprised of a leather corset for the chest and a very short leather bottom. Leather straps stretched down her legs to her boots and down her arms to the gloves on her hands.

Meeko glared at me. "You may wish to pick your jaw up off the floor, Underlord." Her tone was practically dripping with jealousy and malice.

I quickly shook my head and cleared my throat to regain my composure. "Yes, right. Hello, Underlord Hecate."

Hecate stared at me for a moment, her eyes going down my body, then back up. "Not much to look at, are you?"

I felt like my soul left my body when she said those words.

"And what would you know about looks?" Meeko questioned. There was definitely a hint of irritation in her voice.

"My dungeon is full of only the most beautiful and handsome monsters in the Underworld." Hecate leaned forward towards Meeko. "But then, I suppose that's why you're not part of my dungeon either."

Meeko growled and I saw her extend her claws.

I quickly jumped between them. "We're not here for petty squabbles."

Meeko scoffed and folded her arms across her chest.

"And... what exactly are you here for?" Hecate turned to me, moving so her face was only inches from mine. "And for that matter, how did you find me?"

"I was attempting to search for other Underlords that didn't necessarily have a drive to fight."

Hecate hissed at me. "Why? Did you think you would prey on a weak Underlord?"

"Not at all! I'm a complete and utter weakling myself. If we tried to fight, you'd probably stomp on me."

Hecate glanced around. "You do seem as though you don't have the largest army, and I don't sense any titanic creatures either."

I shook my head. "I have none, and I have no desire to sacrifice my people to summon one."

Hecate scoffed at me. "Pathetic." She pulled away and turned her back to me. "You're an Underlord. Killing, murdering, and sacrificing are what you do. Every Underlord knows you need a titanic creature to survive against other Underlords. Summoning one is one of the first things Underlords do."

"I defeated Mal'gor just fine without one."

Hecate spun around to look at me, her eyes wide in surprise. "That was you?"

"Yes. I turned his behemoth against him. Got it angry and made it smash head first into his Heart a few times."

Hecate smirked. "Very interesting. Though, a strategy that would only work on a behemoth. That won't work on the other titanic creatures."

"What other titanic creatures are there?"

Hecate scoffed. "Seriously? You don't know? Have you not paid any attention to what you've had researched in your sanctuary?"

I shook my head. "It's not that, but I haven't seen any research pertaining to any of the titanic creatures yet. The last thing I got from research was how to create different traps and defenses."

Hecate rose an eyebrow. "You've been researching... defenses and traps?"

"I need to know how to defend my dungeon. Why, haven't you?"

Hecate put her hand to her head and shook her head. "Those things are practically useless. They cost mana to even maintain and even more mana to actually use. Your imps already cost enough mana to maintain, and you want to make it worse by adding traps?"

As Hecate said that, two of my imps scurried passed. Hecate stared at them for a moment, then glanced around again. "Speaking of imps, those are the first two I've seen since I got here."

"I only have five of them."

Hecate again turned her head and looked at me with surprise. "You... only have five?"

"It's all I've ever needed."

"How are you going to dig out large rooms, reinforce all of your dungeon walls, and even claim new land with only five imps?!"

I tilted my head. "I've not really needed to dig out very large rooms. I mean, each of my minions has their own lair, I've got a few butcheries for them to eat, a couple of training rooms..."

"Wait, wait, wait... you're telling me that you have multiple rooms for things?"

"Of course. I mean, I need separate lairs for each monster, right?"

"You can have multiple lairs in the same room, the same goes for multiple butcheries and just about everything else. In fact, several of the rooms you can make become more powerful the bigger they are."

"Huh... I wasn't aware..." I wondered which rooms could become stronger if they were bigger.

Hecate groaned and shook her head. "How in the world did you manage to beat Mal'gor like this?"

"Like I said, I turned his behemoth against him and had it destroy his Heart."

"Your dungeon is a total mess, your minions are weaklings, and you don't have anywhere near enough minions to handle everything you need to do. Mal'gor shouldn't have even needed to use his behemoth to destroy you!"

Meeko hissed. "I am not a weakling!"

Hecate scoffed. "You're a beastial! You shouldn't even have been able to be summoned by an Underlord!"

"Wait, what? What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"Beastials are part of the Overworld, not the Underworld. The Knights of Light have several of them on their teams. The portals shouldn't have even been able to summon her."

I turned to look at Meeko.

Meeko stepped backwards. I could see the fear in her eyes. "Y-you did summon me through a portal, though, remember? That's why I'm here!"

Hecate stepped up to Meeko. "How were you summoned through a portal? Have the Knights figured out how to interfere with our portals now? Are you working to betray Abraxas?"

"Abraxas would be dead right now if I hadn't saved him from the Knights of Light to begin with!" Meeko shouted.

"A likely story."

I jumped between Hecate and Meeko. "That's enough. Meeko's right. I was only here for about two days before I was attacked by the Knights of Light. She and my shoggoth were my only defense. I didn't even have offensive spells to defend myself with, yet. If she hadn't protected me, I'd have been dead."

Hecate growled. "She's not a minion, Abraxas."

"I am a minion!" Meeko shouted. "Years ago, I was part of the Knights of Light, but an Underlord convinced me to join his side. I saw the truth, that the Knights of Light are corrupt. They think they're doing what is right, but the Underlords wouldn't even be a threat to the Overworld if it weren't for them! They were the ones that made the Gates of Evil. They were the ones that gave the Underlords the ability to even access the Overworld."

I turned to look at Meeko in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"The Knights of Light are supposedly lead by Emperor Malachi Mac Ciaráin, but the truth is... he's not really the one in command. He serves as a speaker to the one who actually leads the Knights of Light... That someone is Nuadha Airgetlám."

"The Silver Handed God..." Hecate gasped in surprise.

"Who... who is Nuadha?" I questioned. I had no idea what any of what they had just said meant.

"Nuadha Airgetlám, or as he's otherwise known as, Nuadha the Silver Handed God," Hecate answered. "He was the king of the Tuatha De Danann millenia ago, but when he fought Balor, the King of the Fomorians, he lost his right arm. He surrendered the throne, but he was gifted an arm of pure silver and granted godhood by one of the Major Gods. He is a god of war and of light. Ever since then, he promised to purge the world of all fomorians and any other monstrous creatures in the world."

"It was Elatha, the human goddess of magic, that first noticed the subtle change in magic when it touched the Underworld," Meeko spoke up. "She informed the other gods about it, but at the time, the gods were still sealed away in Kaluwalhatien."

"Wait, wait, wait... Kalu-what-now?" I asked in confusion.

"Kaluwalhatien," Meeko spoke again. "Other races have different names for it. The Kitsune call it Rakuen, the humans call it the Elysian Fields, the Tuatha De Danann call it Falias. For us, for beastials like me, we call it Kaluwalhatien."

The afterlife, the realm of the gods, paradise; many races throughout Versumi called it many things, but those were the ones I knew it by. I let Meeko continue.

"Once the gods were no longer sealed away, Nuadha began his crusade to purge the world of the fomorians and other monstrous creatures. He worked with Elatha to create a way into the Underworld so that he could purge it. That was how he created what we know today as the Gates of Evil."

"How did monsters get here to begin with before the gates were made?" I questioned.

"Through portals, like they do now," Meeko responded. "Your portals can open and bring a monster or two through at a time. You can also send monsters back through them. However, you'll no doubt have noticed how taxing it is to use those portals."

I nodded. "The first time I opened one, I summoned you and the shoggoth. After that, I felt completely drained... And every summon since then has felt like I'm using all of my mana just to bring one thing through."

"That's why we need the Gates of Evil," Hecate interjected. "Without them, we can't even begin to send our armies into the Overworld."

"So there really was nothing to fear until Nuadha created the gates..." I sighed. "So, Nuadha thought he was doing the right thing by making the gates and trying to purge the Underworld, but instead, he only allowed us to travel freely."

"That was why the Knights of Light were formed," Meeko responded with a nod. "To guard and control the gates. Eventually, he hopes to build an army large enough to march through the Gates of Evil and purge our entire realm."

"Then we should unite and fight against him!" I shouted. "We'll build up an army, use the Gates of Evil to enter the Overworld, then destroy the Knights of Light!"

"And then what?" Hecate asked with a flat tone. "Once we destroy the Knights, we'll still have a literal god to deal with."

"Can we destroy the gates?"

Hecate shook her head. "It's been tried time and time again. They're completely indestructible."

"That's not exactly true..." Meeko spoke up. Both Hecate and I turned to look at her. "Each Gate is held open by a magical gem. If you can get the gem and destroy it, the Gate will close."

"Then we need to search for these gems and claim them." Hecate made a fist.

"We can work together to find them," I spoke up.

"Why would we work together? We're enemies, or did you forget we're both Underlords?"

"We don't have to fight each other! We're the same, aren't we? We're 'Children of the Stars' or whatever? We're real, living people. We don't need to be killing each other."

Hecate stared at me in confusion. Her head tilted while her eyebrow rose. "We are Underlords, we are evil incarnate. Killing each other is literally our whole reason for existence."

"It doesn't have to be that way, though," I argued. "We had lives before this, right? We weren't trying to kill each other in our past lives. Why do we have to do it here? Just because some dead Underlord decided that was our purpose? We are our own selves! We can decide who we are and what we should do with our lives ourselves!"

Hecate smirked. "I see. I'll admit, I like you, Abraxas. You're a very different sort of Underlord." She turned away from me. "For now, I'll choose not to kill you, since we're both after the same goal of closing the Gates of Evil." She turned back and claws seemed to grow from her fingers. "But mark my words, if you get in my way, I will gut you."

With those words, Hecate seemed to fade out and vanish. I could sense that she had returned to her own dungeon. "So... does this make us allies?" I called out to her.

I heard Hecate laugh. "No. You will leave here at once. If you refuse, I have a Colossus that I will send rampaging through your dungeon."

I grimaced. That had to be a titanic creature. If what Hecate had said was true, I'd have no chance at fighting or defeating it, and no way to turn it against her. I also had no desire to fight her anyway.

"Alright, but if you ever need help, you can always ask for my assistance," I called back to her.

"I don't believe I'll be needing the help of a weakling like you."

I could sense movement now. Hecate was moving her dungeon away from me.

"Meeko, where do we find these gems?" I asked.

"The closest one from here would be in the kingdom of Savaria, but if you want to siege it, you'll need some magical minions. Our hag is good, but she's no warlock."

I nodded. "Alright, tell me what I need to know to ready my dungeon. We're going to go to Savaria and we're going to destroy that gem."

And with that, I began to work again on my dungeon. I had to be ready. According to Meeko, Savaria was going to be full of wizards and knights. I would need to be strong, and I would need a strong army to fend against them. Still, I now had a goal, a purpose to being an Underlord. I was going to close these Gates of Evil and hopefully unite the Underlords in peace.


	7. Chapter 7

"They're coming! Don't let them through!" I shouted to my minions. The goblins and orcs in my army were getting run through by the Knights of Light. My Heart would be in danger soon if I couldn't stop them. I should have guessed that Savaria would be well protected, but I tried to attack anyway with what I had. That was a mistake... one I was afraid I might pay for with my life.

\-------

On the Overworld, Savaria was said to be a small kingdom. A castle, a small city, several acres of land, it was nothing that seemed too dangerous. Meeko had warned me that they had wizards at their disposal, though, and so I had done the first thing she suggested. I expanded my sanctuary out to summon more creatures in.

I had spent about two days opening a portal, letting something through, then resting for an hour or so to get my mana back before starting the process over again. While I had a larger sanctuary now, that didn't mean I was guaranteed to get magical minions to join me. The first two portals I opened just brought more orcs in, for example.

Still, I continued.

I had managed to summon a couple more hags, but my army was still comprised of weaker monsters. To fight against powerful wizards and knights, I would need stronger minions.

"A sacrificial altar would allow you to sacrifice your weak creatures to summon something stronger," Ragnhild spoke when she noticed my frustration.

"No, I'm not going to sacrifice anything," I responded as I tore open another portal. I watched as a scaly quadruped marched into my dungeon. "What is that supposed to be?"

"A basilisk. They will turn your enemies to stone with a gaze."

"What about my own minions? Will they be affected?"

Ragnhild shook her head. "As long as your minions are bound to your Heart, they are protected by it. The basilisk's gaze will do them no harm. Even so, you may find a few statues start to sprout up around the butchery. They tend to turn more things to stone than they actually eat."

"They eat stone?"

"Not quite. Their gaze turns things to stone. Once they start to eat it, a special acid they secrete in the glands in their mouth turn the stone back into flesh. They then consume that. Apothecaries will make salves from the acid in their glands to cure petrification."

"That's pretty awesome, actually."

"You have been amassing an assortment of beasts lately. You may wish to make one of your minions a beast master so that they can be in charge of them. If left unchecked, the beasts will cause trouble."

"Who would you recommend?"

Ragnhild thought for a moment. "How about that orc girl you summoned earlier? I believe her name was Ragash?"

I turned and one of my imps rushed to my side. Because the imps were created by my magic, they were also directly bound to me. The moment I needed one of them, they knew, and one of them would rush to my Heart. "Qrick, find me Ragash and bring her here."

The imp rushed away at an incredible speed, and within moments had returned with Ragash.

Ragash was like any orc. Her skin was green, she had muscles upon muscles all over her body, and while she was mostly bald, she did have some hair that she braided into a single, long ponytail. She was dressed in leather armor that had over-sized pauldrons, and she had two axes that hung from her belt. "Underlord has called Ragash, so Ragash has come."

"I seek a beast master to wrangle the many beasts in my dungeon and train them into a fierce fighting force," I spoke up. "Do you, Ragash, wish to have this honor?"

"Ragash shall accept this honor!" Ragash struck her chest.

Ragnhild reached into her pack and pulled out a whip she had been crafting. "By the might of Underlord Abraxas, I give you this tool to use for your job."

Ragash gripped the whip firmly, then cracked it three times. "It is of excellent workmanship. Ragash is pleased to have such a fine tool."

With whip in hand, Ragash began to scream and shout as she ran through the dungeon. Within only a few minutes, she had wrangled up every beast within the dungeon and pulled them into the training room. When one would attempt to step out of line, she would crack her whip, forcing the beast to return to training.

\-------

Things were going well. I still hadn't gotten any other magical minions, but I was certain that I'd get something good this time. I reached my hand out to open the portal when I felt a sharp pain go through my body. My dungeon had been breached.

I quickly returned to my Heart and rallied my minions together. The Knights of Light had breached my dungeon through what I had deemed my Cavern of Death. It was full of traps that I had expected to kill anyone who dared to attempt to break through my dungeon.

SNAP! The blade lotus shot several daggers through the air, but the paladin at the front of the group simply rose his shield and blocked them. Her marched forward with his shield in front.

That was when the poison trap sprung. A cloud of green gas spewed from the ground, flooding the narrow pathway.

And then, the gas was gone. All it had taken was the incantation of a mage to clean the air. Two of my traps had now failed, but they weren't the only traps I had laid.

With a snap of my fingers, I triggered an ember trap. Fire burst from the ground, forming into a fire elemental. The elemental marched forward at the paladin and mage.

With a quick incantation, the mage caused water to shoot up from the ground and douse the fire elemental.

I was starting to understand what Hecate had meant when she said traps were useless. The mage was extinguishing the magical traps with ease, and the paladin was handling the physical traps.

The worst part of it all was that this was only two of the Knights that had breached my dungeon. Behind the paladin and the mage were a group of soldiers. I had to act fast if I was going to stop them from tearing through my dungeon.

I quickly dropped a fireball spell right in the center of their group. Several of the soldiers screamed in pain as the fire consumed their bodies. Both the paladin and the mage quickly threw up their defenses. The paladin's shield deflected the flames and the wizard conjured a magical shield that did the same.

Unfortunately, with much of my magic being drained by the traps, I quickly realized that a second fireball would be completely out of the question. I could strike at them with a couple of small lightning bolt spells, but they were not particularly strong spells. I decided to save my mana for when they were closer to my Heart.

"Is everyone ready?" I questioned as I appeared before my minions.

Meeko nodded. "As ready as we can be. What are we facing?"

I quickly explained what was marching our way.

"The paladin and the wizard will be the biggest issues. Is there any traps they've passed you can relinquish to give yourself more mana?"

I nodded. It wasn't a bad idea. I quickly returned to my Heart and examined the path the Knights had taken. Several of the traps they had triggered had been destroyed, but a few they had bypassed were still around. I reached my hand down and crushed the traps they had bypassed.

I felt it again, the sharp pain of my dungeon being breached once more. They had broken through my last line of defense and would soon be at the gates of the dungeon.

I appeared in front of my minions once more as we stood before the large steel door that separated us from our enemies. "We must not allow them to get to the Heart. Do everything you can to take them down here and now!"

The goblins quickly readied their bows, taking aim at the steel door that was being blasted again and again by the wizard's spells. Meeko extended her claws and the hags began to chant. The orcs stood at the front lines, their axes ready to cleave the heads off any who dared to attack.

The steel door exploded, sending large shards of steel flying forward. The hags quickly erected a shield that protected my minions from the shrapnel. The moment the pieces settled, the shield dropped and the goblins let their arrows fly.

The arrows immediately dropped a couple of the soldiers, but the paladin still stood at the front and had blocked the rest with his shield. The orcs screamed and rushed forward, their axes swinging.

The paladin grabbed a sword off his back. The blade seemed as though it were covered in silver and a bright glow shone from the blade. With a swing, his sword deflected the axes of three of the orcs. Another swing deflected a blow from two more of the orcs. A third swing cut across the chest of one of the orcs, causing them to drop.

"By the might of Emperor Malachi, we will purge this place of everything within!" the paladin shouted. "Knights of Light, charge!"

The soldiers from behind the paladin immediately charged in. Blades clashed with axes as the orcs did their best to block as many of the soldiers as they could.

Those the orcs could not hold back charged ahead. The goblins unleshed another set of arrows, but few struck their foes.

The hags quickly chanted, combining their magical powers together. A ball of fire launched forward from them, erupting in the center of the soldiers. The ground shook as several of the soldiers were burned, but several were only pushed by the force of the explosion.

I rose my hand, calling upon my mana. I unleashed a large bolt of lightning that shot forward in a straight line.

SNAP! The wizard countered my spell with a snap of his fingers. The lightning fizzled out of existence. "The Underlord is assisting them!" the wizard shouted. "If he has already chosen to fight, then he is weaker than we anticipated. Do not falter! We can destroy this Underlord with ease!"

Blade against axe, the orcs continued to fight against the soldiers. While the orcs were ferocious and strong, I could tell that the soldiers were wielding enchanted swords. Not only that, but the paladin was still standing in the back of the group. If the soldiers were using even basic enchanted swords, that paladin's armor and sword had to be highly magical considering how it all glowed.

"Fight for Emperor Malachi!" the paladin shouted. "Bring down the Underlord's minions and then strike down his Heart!"

An orc fell to the onslaught of soldiers he was facing.

"Ragash! Bring in the beasts!" I shouted.

Ragash rushed in with the beasts at her side.

At once, the hell hounds I had summoned rushed at the soldiers. Taking in a breath, they breathed out a burst of flames.

The soldiers quickly threw up their shields, trying to block the flames the best that they could.

That was when the glowing red eyes of the basilisk came into view. As two of the soldiers lowered their shields to strike, their eyes fell upon the eyes of the basilisk. They screamed as their bodies turned to stone.

"Fear not!" the paladin shouted. "I shall handle this fiend!"

The paladin stepped forward as the basilisk focused its gaze upon him. The paladin quickly threw up his shield, keeping his eyes covered from the basilisk.

"Take this, you fiend!" the paladin shouted as he swung his sword in front of him.

The basilisk roared as its gaze was reflected in the sword. It's body convulsed as its own petrifying gaze overpowered it. It shut its eyes to prevent itself from turning itself to stone.

Its gaze averted, the paladin rushed forward and swung his mighty sword, lopping off the basilisk's head. It's body turned to stone, then crumbled into dust.

I rushed towards the paladin, empowering myself with a spell. As my hand touched his face, an explosion of magic erupted from my hand, throwing the paladin backwards.

The wizard growled. "Damn Underlords. If only we could see where his attacks were coming from." The wizard rose his staff. "No matter. We will destroy him soon enough!"

The wizard tapped the bottom of his staff against the ground and the ground began to shake. Ally and enemy alike were thrown about by the shuddering ground.

"Let's see how you and your minions handle this, Underlord!" the wizard shouted.

BOOM! The air seemed to explode as a wall of sound erupted from the wizard's hands. My minions were thrown back by the force, but the wizard's allies were all unaffected.

The soldiers took this chance to charge passed the dazed orcs and into the group of goblins, hags, and beasts.

My goblins screeched in terror as they tried to run, but most were cut down quickly by the soldiers.

"Fall back!" Meeko shouted. The remaining goblins scurried as quickly as they could away, turning only to attempt a quick, blind shot with their arrows before continuing to run.

I quickly cast a healing spell on the downed and injured orcs. "Back to your feet! We have to defend the Heart!"

The orcs pushed to their feet, turning to the soldiers. They charged, but the orcs were stopped again by a rank of the soldiers.

I cursed. Even if the orcs could handle the soldiers they were fighting, the others were chasing down the goblins and going straight for my Heart. "Ragash! We have to stop them!"

"Understood!" Ragash shouted. She uttered a command to her beasts and they turned and charged at the few soldiers they could reach.

Unfortunately, a couple of hell hounds, a spectator, and a cave fisher aren't much against a full group of well-trained soldiers.

Beams shot from the spectator's eyes. The beams succeeded in striking a couple of the soldiers. One burst into flame as the beam struck him, the other simply collapsed, unconscious.

The paladin charged forward, his sword spinning in his hand. As he grew near the spectator, one of the hell hounds leapt forward. The paladin had no trouble cutting the hell hound in two with his blade.

"These creatures are nothing to a Knight of Light!" the paladin shouted. He rose his sword and it burst into golden flame. With a mighty swing of his sword, the other hell hound and the cave fisher were immediately destroyed.

The spectator turned to the paladin, it's many eyes focusing on the paladin's glowing armor. It snarled, showing its many teeth.

Beams shot rapidly from its eyes, but the paladin again rose his shield, deflecting each of the beams.

The wizard let out an arcane incantation and seven bolts of magic swirled around his head. The bolts flew forward, striking the spectator in each of its eyes, blinding it for only a moment.

A moment was all the paladin needed, however. He rushed forward to swing his sword.

His sword clashed with another sword. As he looked to see who had blocked his attack, his eyes fell on the undead remains of a knight. "Brother!" he shouted. "It can't be you... please tell me it's not so..."

The zombie knight gripped his sword tight and snarled. He swung, but the paladin blocked the attack.

"So, it is true. They can turn us into undead!"

"Well, of course, we knew that already!" the wizard shouted. "This was why I said we should bring a priest!"

"No need! I am a paladin, after all!" the paladin's sword again burst into golden flame. He swung, but my undead knight blocked the strike with his own sword. "Guh... I did not expect a zombie to be so strong..."

The wizard pointed his finger forward, chanting another incantation. Three rays of fire shot from his finger, each striking the zombie knight. "Use your damn holy powers already!"

The paladin held his hand forward. "By the powers granted to me by the god Nuadha Airgetlám, I banish thee!"

The zombie knight's body began to shutter and shake as it fell to its knees. It then crumbled to the ground as its soul was finally released from its body.

I turned back to look at my other minions. Most of them were down, either unconscious or dead. A couple of orcs were continuing to fight with all of their might, but they were being assaulted by twice as many soldiers.

As for the hags, only my first hag remained, and she was muttering every incantation she could just to keep a shield around her.

Ragnhild, Ragash, Meeko, my shoggoth, they were all that I had left that could fight, and the Knights outnumbered them at least four-to-one. I rushed back to my Heart where the four of them awaited. "We have to stop them somehow... There has to be some way..."

"If there is not, then we shall die honorable deaths here," Ragnhild spoke as she gripped her blade. "When the Knights come through, I shall focus on the paladin."

"I'll handle the wizard," Meeko spoke with her claws ready. "Shoggy, try to take down as many of them as you can."

The shoggoth made a BLORP noise.

"Ragash will fight until Ragash draws her last breath!" Ragash tossed her whip aside and drew out two axes.

This was it, the Knights were about to reach my Heart. If we lost here, it would be all over.

"It seems you require my aid," a deep, gravely voice spoke from somewhere. "I have watched your pathetic skirmish. Normally I would not bestow my power to just anyone, but I am curious how you would handle it."

I looked around. I could see no one, nor could I sense where the voice was coming from. As I turned to Meeko and the others, I noticed they were still standing ready to fight without the slightest distraction.

Had I only imagined the voice?

I felt something suddenly flow through me. It was a power unlock anything I had ever felt. I held up my hand and saw a strange mark appear on it. It was like the horn of some kind of demonic creature. "What... is this?"

"I have gifted you a piece of my talisman," the voice spoke again. "With it, you can release a part of my soul. Release it now and I shall destroy your enemies!"

Talisman? Was this... a piece of the talisman to the Reaper? Did I dare unleash it?

I could see the golden flame of the paladin's sword. In only a moment the Knights would be at my Heart. If I did not use the talisman, I was surely going to die.

I reached my hand forward and the mark on my hand began to glow. Fire erupted from the ground as the earth shook.

"What is this?!" the paladin shouted.

Two flaming arms erupted from the flames followed by a massive, muscular body. The beast had two horns on its head and red skin all over its body. As the flames extinguished, I could see its two massive legs and giant wings. The flames ran down its arms, forming into a scythe in its hands.

"No... it can't be!" the wizard shouted.

"It's the Reaper!" the paladin shouted.

The Reaper's eyes began to glow and the paladin and the wizard grabbed at their throats as if they were being strangled. The Reaper began to step forward, its feet emitting fire with each step it took. It rose its scythe.

Just like that, with a single swing, the paladin and the wizard collapsed. Their bodies were perfectly in tact, but the moment the scythe passed through their bodies, their soul was torn from them and absorbed into the scythe.

With a wave of the scythe, the Reaper unleashed a wave of fire that burned the remaining soldiers.

The battle was over in an instant.

"That's... the Reaper..." Meeko barely managed to stutter out.

The Reaper grinned, showing its razor sharp fangs. "I am."

Meeko's legs were shaking, but she stood strong. "I won't let you harm my Underlord."

The Reaper laughed. "I have no desire to harm this pathetic being. On the contrary, I seek to aid in your struggles."

"Aid us? Why would you aid us?" Meeko hissed.

"Because, believe it or not, our goals are the same. You wish to destroy the Gates of Evil, I wish to conquer the Overworld." The Reaper turned to me. "I will aid you in your most dire times of need, but only under one condition. You must find the other three pieces of my talisman and release me from this prison once and for all."

"Don't do it!" Meeko shouted.

I shook my head. "I don't have a choice, do I?"

The Reaper laughed. "If you refuse, I will destroy your Heart and kill the few remaining minions you have."

I nodded. "Fine, I'll agree."

Fire erupted around the Reaper. "Don't call on me too much, Underlord, or I may decide you are unworthy of my power and destroy you anyway." As the flames died down, the Reaper was gone.

We had survived... for now. My imps rushed out and grabbed up whatever minions had survived. I spent a while administering healing to each of them. The ones who did not survive were tossed into my Heart so that any remnants of their soul could be imparted to me.

As for the Knights of Light, I had any who were alive sent to the prison. The dead Knights were thrown into my Heart. If I was going to march against Savaria, I would need to be even stronger than I was now.

I needed a titanic creature on my side. Even if I didn't want to, I would have to summon one. "Tell me the ritual for summoning a titan," I spoke to Meeko.

Meeko nodded.

I would use the Knights in my prison as sacrifices to the gods. I only prayed that I could be forgiven for it.


	8. Chapter 8

Cultists... I really didn't want to summon them, but I had no choice. Yesterday had proven to me how badly I needed a titanic creature on my side. If it hadn't been for the Reaper... I would have died, and maybe even Meeko, Ragnhild, and Ragash. The Knights of Light showed no mercy as they charged through my dungeon.

I shuttered. The cultists were humans, at least I think they were. They looked like humans dressed in thick blood red robes. They each brandished a knife, one they displayed proudly and prominently. I could hear them chanting wherever they walked, I could see them waving their knives around as if they were toys. These people had no fear of death. I would even dare to say that they were waiting for it, as if death itself was their very purpose.

As Meeko had instructed, and as my hag researched, I constructed a temple to myself. The place was dark as it was the one part of my dungeon that was not lit by either magic or torches. It wasn't that I hadn't lit it up. No, the cultists practically demanded the place be dark. They literally worked in the shadows, weaving their terrible magic.

Ragnhild pushed one of the captured soldiers into the center of the temple. We had gathered all of them from the prison and placed them in the pentagram that made up the floor of the temple. I watched, helplessly, as the soldiers were forced to their knees.

"You will not get away with this," the soldiers cried out. "Lord Fredrick will not let our deaths be in vain!"

"Silence." Ragnhild struck the soldier with the back of her hand. "You all have the glory today of becoming an instrument of our Underlord's design! Sing your praises that you die today to bring forth a titan!"

One of the soldiers spit at Ragnhild.

I closed my eyes, I couldn't bare to watch. At least, that's what I told myself. Yet, despite trying to force my eyes shut, to turn away, to not look at what was happening, I couldn't. I could only stand and stare.

The cultists gathered around the soldiers. They snickered and sneered. They cheered. They rose their knives into the air and sang my praises. "Di veteris, diis malum, orate ut vobis. Hi placuere tibi hostias. Dicimus ergo, ut adducerent nobis Titan stantes ante inimicos. Sic autem dici potest quod Overworld in nomine tuo!"

The soldiers dropped to the ground, blood spilling from the cuts in their throats the cultists had administered. I could see the fear in the eyes of the soldiers in that moment. They were not just seeing death, but whatever dark gods had been prayed to. Their souls were being taken, but not to the afterlife they deserved.

Blood coated the pentagram on the floor. Five candles, each sitting on the points of the star, suddenly ignited into blue flame. The cultists bowed their entire bodies, putting their faces to the ground.

Then, all was silent.

Had the ritual failed? Had not enough blood been spilled? I turned to ask Meeko, but she rose her hand to silence me.

The ground beneath our feet began to shake. I could feel powerful magic flowing through my entire body. It coarsed through until it reached the temple and swirled in the center.

I heard screams. They were the screams of the souls of the soldiers. The dark gods hadn't just taken the souls, they were using them, weaving them into some sort of terrible force.

The metal armor that covered the bodies of the soldiers tore itself from their bodies. It swirled in the center, melting and then reforming into large metallic plates. The plates seemed to merge with each other until a massive breastplate had formed in the center of the temple.

The rest of the armor formed into long plates that looked like arms and then formed into a spiked helmet shaped almost like it was meant to be a head but with no face. I heard the souls scream again as they were forced into the suit of armor.

As the ritual finished, the suit of armor began to move as if it was alive. It had no lower body and seemed to just float in mid-air. The helmet turned and I could see a blood red glow beneath the armor.

"We are Eternal," the suit spoke in many voices. They were the voices of the dead soldiers. "We have been created to serve Underlord Abraxas. You have our strength, our power, and our magic at your disposal."

"No way..." Meeko stared in surprise.

"What is it?" I questioned.

"No one has summoned an Eternal in a hundred years." Meeko turned to look at me. "You must have pleased the dark gods to have summoned such a titan."

That just created a pit in my stomach. I had done something so evil that even other Underlords hadn't done? "What... do I do with you now?" I asked.

"We serve you," the Eternal responded. "We shall do whatever you command."

"What if I have no commands for you at the time?"

"Then we shall remain here and wait for your command. We are Eternal, we need no provisions."

"But won't you just get bored standing here?"

"We are Eternal. We need no provisions."

I turned to Meeko, wondering what to do next with it.

"It's just like it says. It's an Eternal," Meeko responded. "It is the most powerful of titans. Unlike the behemoth, it doesn't need food, drink, or even sleep. It also cannot truly die. While other titans can be destroyed or killed, an Eternal cannot. The only way to kill it is to destroy your Heart."

"That's why it's... 'eternal'?"

Meeko nodded. "It is also capable of very advanced magic. Even the oldest of wizards is not capable of the kinds of magic an Eternal has."

"And... it'll just... stand around and do nothing unless I give it a command?"

"It has no need to do anything. It has no need for 'fun' or 'entertainment'. It does not need or feel joy or care. It is, as it says, 'eternal'."

I turned back to the Eternal. "Is it possible... for you to bring my minions back to life?"

The Eternal lowered its hand. Dark energy shot out from its hand like black lightning. Before my very eyes, the minions I had lost only yesterday suddenly appeared in front of me. Their eyes shot wide open as they suddenly gasped for the first breath of air they had had since they died.

"We... we have been brought back?" one of the orcs questioned as he sat up and glanced around.

"Underlord Abraxas still has need of your services," the Eternal spoke. "You have been revived as he wished."

My minions turned and looked at me. I went to speak, but I found no words. What did one say to the dead that had come back to life?

My minions slowly stood to their feet. They were dazed and even standing was difficult for them. Yet, the orc that had spoken moments before, after standing to his feet, put his hand to his chest and gave a bow. "We have been returned to fight another day! Hail to Underlord Abraxas!"

\-------

The dungeon was bustling again. Everyone who had died in the last fight was back. None of them were ready for combat, though. I could see them stumbling and staggering even just trying to walk.

Meeko had told me that being revived was a heavy ordeal. It would take almost a week for any of them to get back to their full strength. That meant I couldn't make a move on Savaria until then. Eternal or no, I wasn't going to attack a place as well-guarded and powerful as Savaria until everyone was back to their strongest.

Ragnhild approached me. "You're staring at the Eternal."

"I just don't get it... It's alive, right? How can it just... stand there and do nothing?" I questioned.

It had been two days. I had told the Eternal to guard my Heart. It had not budged an inch as soon as it began its task.

"It's like Meeko said, it doesn't need to."

I shook my head. I just couldn't wrap my head around that. How could something be alive, yet have no feelings or needs? Did it not remember its life as the soldiers that had formed it? Did it not yearn to return to that? Of course, I voiced that to Ragnhild.

"It remembers everything," she responded. "Not just its life as the soldiers, but its life before it even became the soldiers."

"What do you mean?"

"The Rentari hold that life begins at the moment of the universe's creation. Before we have bodies, we live as the universe. We are stars, planets, and other things that make up the universe. Eventually, we decide we wish to have a part in life, and so we create a body for ourselves. The body grows and goes through life, but eventually, we all must return to the universe we came from. And so, we eventually die, and we become the universe once more."

"Then, they remember 'being the universe'?"

Ragnhild nodded. "That's what I believe. We have all lived for an eternity before we gained these bodies, and we shall live for an eternity after we lose them. That is what the Eternal remembers and knows."

"What about people like me?" I questioned. "I'm not even from this universe, right?"

Ragnhild shrugged. "We do not know. It is believed you come from the Far Plane, but that is no less 'the universe' than this world is. If you were not of 'this universe' I do not believe you could be here. Perhaps what you think of as 'the universe' is but a small part of something even larger, perhaps even infinite."

I had not expected to get so existential out of this conversation. I glanced back at the Eternal. Maybe Ragnhild was right, though. Perhaps it did know what was before and after life. If we were all just part of the universe, then did that mean it didn't matter if we killed each other?

Or perhaps, the fact that we were part of the universe was exactly why we shouldn't. If we were the universe, then we were all one and the same. Daily, we fight each other over differences, but perhaps that was just our decision. We were the ones who decided that fighting and death were what we should do.

\-------

Meeko's tail wagged in annoyance as she stood in front of the Eternal. She poked it, prodded it, climbed on it, bounced on it, and yet it did not respond. "Hey, you!" she shouted at it.

"What is it you need of us?" the Eternal questioned.

"What's your name, huh?"

"We are Eternal."

"Well, yeah, I know you're an Eternal, but what's your name?"

"We are Eternal."

Meeko grumbled. "I know that, but that doesn't answer my question! You've got to have a name, right? Something you call yourself?"

"We are Eternal."

Meeko scoffed. "Fine, whatever." She turned away only to trip over an imp as it rushed by. "Damn it, Abraxas!"

"Something wrong?" I asked as I appeared next to her.

Meeko meowed, jumped, and hissed at me. "Don't just appear like that!"

"You called me, though."

Meeko gave a low growl. "I didn't. I was cursing your name, not calling it."

"Why?" I raised an eyebrow.

"It's these imps! You've got them running all over the place lately! I can't seem to walk two feet without an imp under my feet!"

An imp rushed passed. It had a large wooden crate over its head.

"Like that!" Meeko shouted. "And what are they even carrying?"

"Siege weaponry. I've been having Ragnhild and the others work on forging some cannons for our assault into Savaria in a couple days."

"Really, Abraxas? Traps again?"

I shook my head. "Not quite. I was surveying Savaria the other day and I realized something. All the cannons I know how to make are mounted, but Savaria's have wheels. So, I thought I might be able to modify the designs a bit and give our mounted cannons wheels as well. Then we can roll them in, blast down Savaria's doors, and find that gem and destroy it."

Meeko smacked her forehead then shook her head. "That's not going to work."

"What? Why not?"

"Even if you can make the cannons roll, they're automated by magic. The fact they're mounted lets them turn and aim all on their own. Once you add wheels, they won't be able to do that. They'll be able to fire, but someone will have to stand behind them and aim them. That's not something any of your minions would even know how to do."

"Why not? They're smart enough."

"Orcs don't use cannons, they use catapults. They wouldn't know the first thing about working one. Goblins literally don't use any siege weapons, the hags use magic which is already more powerful than the cannons, and the majority of the rest of your army is beasts. Ragnhild and I are probably the only two that could work a cannon, and that's just not enough of us to make the cannons worthwhile."

I sighed. "Then what's the point of building traps? The Knights just barreled through them."

"You have to remember, Abraxas. Most of what you can create was made in the early days of Underlord Konaku. That was when only other Underlords dared to fight one another. It's not that your traps don't work, it's that they don't work against the enemies we are facing. A blade trap would make short work of goblins, and a fireball trap would make short work of most of your minions."

"So, we're just that much weaker than the Knights of Light?" I questioned.

"Yes and no." Meeko took a few steps to reposition herself. "The Knights of Light are more powerful than your basic Underlord minions. However, even a behemoth by itself could tear down that force that attacked us. There are, however, what some might refer to as 'elite minions'."

"What are those?"

"They're still not as powerful as a titan, but only a handful of them would be needed to fight against a titan.

"Right, but, that still doesn't tell me what they are."

Meeko was silent for a long moment. I wondered why she wasn't willing to give me this information.

Before I could ask, Meeko spoke up. "You already have three of them."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm surprised you aren't familiar with what a shoggoth actually is."

I thought for a moment. I suppose I had heard the term before, but I didn't really remember where from. I shrugged. "Why do you say that?"

"Shoggoth are horrible eldritch monsters. In the Daemonic Hierarchy, they are placed in the Sixth Rank. That means, there are only five ranks of daemon that are stronger than them, and the First Rank is where the Eldritch Gods sit, and the Second Rank is where Archdevils and Archdemons exist. You, as an Underlord, are also part of the Daemonic Hierarchy. You're in the Third Rank."

Silence. There was nothing but silence from either of us for a long time. It took at least a good minute for my brain to fully understand what Meeko had just told me.

Then my mind snapped back to reality. Underlords were part of the Daemonic Hierarchy? We were only one rank below some of the most powerful daemons in existence? The shoggoth - a black ooze that wandered my dungeon seemingly with no mind of its own - was part of the Sixth Rank? I turned to the shoggoth as it oozed by. "You're a daemon?"

The shoggoth stopped. It turned and began to move towards me. As it grew near, my eyes glanced all about it, but it just looked like a black ooze.

Then it stopped moving only a few feet from me. A large mouth opened in the front, revealing fangs that were almost half a foot long and were sharper then anything I had ever seen. Several smaller mouths opened all over its body, and while the fangs were smaller, they looked no less deadly. Long tentacles sprouted from the creature's body as it began to rise, its body soon towering over me.

"Shoggoth look and behave like simple oozes, but this is what they really are," Meeko explained. "Terrible, eldritch creatures with immense power."

Several eyes sprouted from the ooze body and looked at me. The eyes seemed to have free reign over where they sat as they moved all over its body.

I shook. "I-I see..."

The shoggoth allowed itself to fall forward. As its body struck the ground, ooze splattered everywhere. The eyes and mouths seemed to just vanish, as if they had never been there, and the tentacles became like ooze. It turned and wandered off again.

"What other elite units do I have? Please don't tell me one of the beasts is secretly some all powerful monster and I just haven't seen its final form, yet."

Meeko tilted her head. "Final form?"

"Never mind. It's a reference from the world I came from. Anyway, back to my question."

"Well, you've seen the sword Ragnhild wields, yeah?"

I went to speak, then went silent for a moment. "Ragnhild is an elite unit?"

"Well, fire giants aren't specifically elite units, but the sword she wields makes her one. The sword she has is not just any ordinary sword. It is Angurvadal. It is a powerful magical sword that is said to be the strongest in times of war. It is a legendary relic belonging to the Rentari."

"So... a shoggoth, a fire giant with a legendary sword... let me see if I can guess the third one," I spoke up.

"Be my guest. I doubt you'll get it, though." Meeko smirked.

I thought. I had several hags, so they clearly weren't anything unique. Goblins and orcs were standard monsters. I began to think through all the beasts I had. Hell hounds were standard fare as far as I could recall. The spectator could have been one, but I seemed to recall them being simple monsters as well. Cave fishers also were not particularly special.

That's when it hit me. Meeko wasn't a normal minion. She had been a Knight of Light at one point, but now she worked for the Underlords. It couldn't be that she... "You're the third elite unit?"

Meeko blinked in surprise. She chuckled. "Oh wow, I really didn't think you'd be able to guess."

"You, Ragnhild, and the shoggoth... you're all more powerful than any of my other minions..."

Meeko nodded. "You're correct. Now, don't think I'm anything particularly special. Compared to Shoggy and Ragnhild, I'm just a minion. If I had had to fight that paladin, I would have gotten killed pretty fast. In fact, I think only Shoggy and Ragnhild had any chance of defeating the paladin by themselves. They might have even been able to handle the paladin and wizard, assuming Ragnhild focused on the paladin. Fun fact: eldritch creatures like Shoggy are not particularly good at dealing with holy warriors. Especially not strong ones. Holy magic tends to overpower eldritch magic."

"Then if we fight any more of those guys..."

Meeko nodded. "Bingo! Shoggy could get killed and they would take minimal damage at best. Luckily, for every other sort of Knight of Light, Shoggy will eat them alive."

I shuddered. I didn't even want to think about the shoggoth eating someone with all of those mouths. Just the thought of all of the mouths biting down at different spots on a person's body, then pulling until they tore the person into twelve pieces... Oh, I guess I did end up thinking about it, after all.

"Now that you have an Eternal, Savaria should be no issue, but I'd still recommend getting a few more minions first. You never know what we'll find in there."

"Meeko... do you have any idea where the other talisman pieces are for The Reaper?"

Meeko shook her head. "Nope. Your hags could probably try to research, but I honestly have no idea. They've been hidden away since the day The Reaper was sealed inside of it."

"What do you think The Reaper will do if I don't find the other pieces?"

Meeko shrugged. "I doubt he can do much. He can't leave the talisman piece unless you allow him to, and without the other three, he can't stay long either. If you hid the piece you have away, we'd probably never even see him again."

I looked down at my hand and the talisman piece materialized. Meeko wasn't wrong. If I got rid of it now, he'd probably be gone for good. But what if I needed him again? What if, even with an Eternal, Meeko, Ragnhild, and a shoggoth on my side, I still couldn't conquer and destroy the Gates of Evil?

I shook my head. I'd wait. If I never needed him again, I'd get rid of him just like that. If I did, though, I'd continue my search for the pieces. Besides, so long as I had the piece, it meant no one else did, right? So, it meant no one could use him against me.

I turned. Well, it was time to summon some new minions. In two more days, we'd be marching towards Savaria, and this time, we would either conquer it and destroy the Gate of Evil or we would die trying.


End file.
